No Mountain High Enough
by surreptitiouspen
Summary: Just as boredom sweeps Osaka High, a challenge is offered to the willing members of Dorm 2. A race against rivals through mountainous terrain is an exciting event, but dangerous. It becomes a true test of friendship, and a test of maybe something more...
1. Change of Scenery

Authoress here.

There's something so exciting about a new story! And I have _so_ been in the mood for something fresh, exciting and new. This Hana-Kimi story is a sort of AU…it happens in their sophomore year, after the visit to Hokkaido. And, because it annoys me that he did, Nakatsu has _NOT_ professed his undying love to Mizuki. Ah, the joys of Auhoressness and fanfiction.

**Disclaimer:** In an attempt to follow JewelValentine's witty disclaiming style, mine is as follows:

I do not own Hana-Kimi. It is owned by a woman who thought that cross-dressing females would be an interesting topic for a manga and that putting her in a school full of attractive men would make for a witty, spirited, grand old time. I also do not own Hard Times by Charles Dickens, for it would be hard to own a book that I myself have never read.

**Claimer:** I know, it's odd to put something like a claimer in one's stories, but I've been getting ripped off and then accused of stealing plots. So here it is: THIS IS MY PLOT. I have done the research, I have done the digging, and I have done the dreaming. I appreciate those who enjoy it, but I DO NOT appreciate those who wish to simply replicate it without my okay.

**Summary**: Rivalry between Osaka High, Tokyo Academy, and Nagasaki Central has never been higher. The annual Mountain race, held in the beautiful but treacherous Shirakami-Sanchi Mountain Range is a forty-mile trek across country that would test both the brains and brawn of students selected to compete.  
The race is prestigious for high schools because of an age limit, which allows only seventeen year olds and under to compete. When Osaka is challenged to bring on its best team of the sophomore class, Dorm Two jumps at the chance for glory.  
Mizuki Ashiya, Shuichi Nakatsu, Izumi Sano, Kyougo Sekime, Daiki Kayashima, and Shinji Noe have been chosen to bear the Osaka name and pride to the race, but not one of them realizes what lies before them….

(Note: When _Hana-Kimi_ is written, it signifies that the story is being told from a third-person perspective. If a character's name is written in Italics, it signifies that the following is in their first-person view. I also might give scene changes in Italics. Thank you for your cooperation.)

**No Mountain High Enough  
Chapter One: Change of Scenery

* * *

**

_Hana-Kimi_

"Ashiya. Ashiya! Mizuki Ashiya!"

With a jerk, the brunette rose automatically from the desk chair, back ramrod straight and eyes blinking the sleep away as rapidly as possible. "Yes, Onishi-sensei?"

"I believe I asked the class to discuss the third chapter of the Dickens classic 'Hard Times,' not to take a nap."

"I apologize, Onshi-sensei." Mizuki could feel her blush deepening, and she sat down quickly while her classmates snickered around her. As the teacher turned around, Mizuki leaned towards one of her best friends, Shuichi Nakatsu. The bleach-blonde wasn't trying to disguise his sniggers.

"Nakatsu!" Mizuki hissed, exasperated. "Why didn't you wake me?"

The cheeky teen gave her a wide smile, one hand casually brushing strands of unnatural blonde away from his face. "Because you looked so…cute, sleeping."

Behind Nakatsu, Kyougo Sekime fought back his laughter at Nakatsu's comment. "Yeah, Ashiya, you looked like a little angel."

"Quiet, Sekime…" Mizuki threatened. The bespectacled boy merely grinned all the wider.

"Quiet, all of you." This comment came from the dark and handsome Izumi Sano, who looked as annoyed as the teacher did at the disruption. Mizuki was immediately subdued, though Nakatsu and Sekime continued to laugh silently.

Rubbing her eyes, Mizuki forced herself to pay attention to the discussion. Some boy from another dorm was standing, reciting a passage from the English book they had been assigned to read. His English was choppy at best, and as she listened to the stream of "-Louise look-ed calm at father Gradgrind, which had unhappiness upon his head-" her lethargy returned, making her eyelids unbelievably heavy. She propped her chin up with her palms, blinking heavily.

While she struggled to remain awake, Sano had let his own gaze fall from the speaking student to his roommate. Mizuki let out a little yawn as he watched, covering her mouth daintily with her fingers. Sano felt an exasperated smile creep onto his lips; the girl was sometimes so obvious he was surprised she didn't come to class one day with a pink bow in her hair.

_Maybe because I know the truth, I notice all the girly things she does._ Sano mused. _But, for a girl in the middle of an all-boys' school, I'd say she's doing pretty well._

Indeed, the spunky spit-fire had kept her secret with relative success, hiding her feminine identity to all but him. She applied herself with gusto to her friends' pursuits; sports, food, and friends. She complained with equal loudness at the homework-load, she ate most of her friends under the table, and was unequaled when it came to long, endurance running and was a formidable opponent in sprints and relays.

And yet, Sano noticed the small things that reminded him every day of her sex. If it wasn't the too-thin shoulders, it had to be the long, shapely stance, the slightly flared hips, the long lashes, the moments of unparalleled tenderness, or the mood swings. Along with her obsession with the small, furry, and cute, Mizuki could speak freely of things most boys would avoid.

_Like feelings._ Sano chuckled to himself internally. Yes, Mizuki could write the book on feelings. She always had several, and was not shy in letting Sano know about most of them. And the ones she didn't tell him verbally were spoken in volume on her all-too expressive face. There was little that was a mystery to Sano when Mizuki was concerned. Except for-

"Izumi, please read the fourth and fifth paragraphs on the same page." The teacher's brusque voice cut into his thoughts. Always the cool one, Sano stood wordlessly, book in hand.

"'I merely wanted to see how one rides a horse, Father.' Louise said mildly. 'There is nothing wrong with that, I hope…'"

_After class_

"Sano, what does 'bourn' mean? I said it meant to come alive on the test last week, but I got it wrong."

"You should have gotten it wrong. 'Bourn' means a destination, or a goal. Your answer would have been right if it was spelled b-o-r-n, not b-o-u-r-n…"

"Oh. That's stupid. The English are very confusing, stupid people. So I got the sentence wrong then, too."

"Maybe the stupidity aspect isn't their fault, Nakatsu… What _did_ you write for the sentence?"

"Oh, shut up, and stop doing that stupid smirk."

Mizuki sighed, listening to Sano and Nakatsu's conversation. She felt like ditching her Non-Eastern World History class to take a few laps around the track. Sitting around, doing nothing except falling into a stupor was _not_ her idea of fun, and with track season over, she had been doing too much of the above activity for her liking. Sano noticed her silence, and sent her a sharp glance.

"You shouldn't cut Non-Eastern, Ashiya. That professor's a bloodhound; she will find you."

Mizuki dismissed Sano's uncanny ability to read her thoughts- she had long since gotten used to it. "I can't handle this!" She wailed, theatrics coming out in full throttle. "All of this indoors-y, sitting-y, do nothing-y stuff… all this crap!"

Nakatsu took his friend's side immediately. "I second that, Ashiya. Soccer season's dying down, and we already have blown our chances for going to the sectionals, with our goalie going and breaking his hip like that, stupid jerk…" Taken over by anger at the unfair losses the soccer team had suffered, Nakatsu kicked at a discarded pencil as if it had done him great personal harm. Sano and Mizuki allowed him ten-seconds of brooding before grabbing his arms and frog-marching him down the hallway.

As they neared Mizuki's next classroom, the PA system wheezed to life. The students milling around the corridors paused in their conversations to listen.

"_Attention, students and staff. There is a school meeting in the assembly hall. Please report to the assembly hall before the next chime. Classes are postponed until after the school assembly. Thank you_."

As the trio changed course, Nakatsu voiced his mind. "Wonder what's so important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow morning's announcements?"

Another member of Dorm Two, the strange and self-proclaimed psychic Daiki Kayashima caught up to them in time to hear his roommate's query. "It's an assembly about an upcoming competition with the rival schools."

Nakatsu nearly jumped a foot at Kayashima's voice. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" He snarled, patting at his chest to slow his heart. "And yeah, right. Your little mind games don't work on me. I don't believe you."

Kayashima was not perturbed by his roommate. Falling in step with the three of them, he merely smiled calmly. "Your aura says otherwise."

Mizuki held back her giggle as Nakatsu became distinctly red in the face. "I'll bet you a thousand yen you're wrong!"

"Nakatsu, do you even _have_ a thousand yen on you?"

"Shut up, Sano! Of…course I have… a thousand yen…" Nakatsu patted his pockets; face brightening as he felt a bulge of money in one of them. "Yeah!"

"I'll accept the bet." Kayashima said placidly. "Although, I'll remind you again of my precognizant powers. You won't be having lunch today, not without your money."

"Whatever. Let's hear your new tune when you lose." Nakatsu grinned at his roommate good-naturedly.

They entered the assembly hall, choosing spots by the already-seated Sekime and his roommate Shinji Noe.

"Dorm buddies!" Noe sang out, stuck in his perpetual good mood. The only thing that ever dampened his spirits was when he became painfully aware of his bad luck with girls. Then, he could perform an emotional break-down that put Nakatsu's outbursts of random crying to shame.

"I don't know why we always sit together," Sekime grumbled, adjusting his glasses imperiously. "We're _always_ together."

"Sick of us after only two years?" Mizuki grinned. "You could always move, if you really don't like our company," she added with an even larger smirk.

Sekime merely 'harrumphed' and settled down in his chair, causing the other members of Dorm Two to fall into a fit of chuckles. They were forced to stifle their amusement as the fat, balding vice-principal tapped on the microphone atop the podium at the front of the hall.

"Students, I have an exciting announcement."

The hall was filled with a buzz of voices as the vice-principal paused for dramatic effect.

"We have been invited to send a team of six students to compete in a prestigious race against Tokyo Academy and Nagasaki Central, as well as a few other schools."

The buzzing was louder this time, and above the excited chatter came Nakatsu's groan as Kayashima held out an expectant hand, grinning broadly. The vice principal held up a hand for silence as he continued.

"The race is the annual Mountain Trek for our area, which means the race is held at Aikita, in the Shirakami-Sanchi Mountain Range."

Mizuki, who had no head for geography, leaned towards Sano. "What's the big deal? Is this a big race or something?"

Sano nodded. "The biggest junior competition held on the main island. It's in the Kansai region, where the real Osaka is." (1)

"Junior competition?"

"Yeah. It's a forty-mile course, check-point style, but it's for men seventeen and under."

"So…we qualify?" Mizuki felt vaguely nervous at Sano's slight emphasis on the word 'men.'

"I suppose. Now pay attention."

Mizuki returned her gaze to the vice principal, who was still talking.

"-Rigorous and tough course, designed to test the physical and mental strength of the participants. There have been times when the race has gone on for nine, sometimes ten days. The danger the race presents is real, but in case of emergency all participants have radios to call for help with. There are helicopters within ten minutes of every part of the course, as well as a check point every ten miles. If a team doesn't check in within two days, radio contact will be made. If the radios aren't working, then a rescue team is promptly sent out." The vice principal paused. "But any use of adult help, except a check-in radio call and the check points, means an immediate disqualification."

Mizuki shivered. The course sounded tough, even a little frightening, but at the same time she desperately wanted to be a participant. She needed the fresh air and the difficult challenge! Especially if Sano, one of the most qualified people in the whole school, went as well. Visions popped into her mind of hot dogs roasting over a cozy campfire, or of a gentle rain causing Sano to hold a blanket over their heads while they huddled together for added warmth-

The vice principal was talking again, making Mizuki start with a small blush. She shook her head a little, and paid close attention.

"The biggest prize is the pride of winning such an arduous race, but there are more material trophies as well. Osaka would win a million yen towards our school, and each team member would receive a five- hundred thousand yen towards scholarships." The vice principal grinned. "But my favorite prize would be holding our victory over Tokyo Academy and Nagasaki Central!"

The students erupted into a round of cheers, boos, and general noise at his statement. He held up a hand for order again.

"Sophomores, I highly recommend you find a team and sign up, for I don't believe this is a race for freshman to undertake. Don't worry, underclassmen, there is a good chance we will be invited next year, so leave this year to the sophomores. We will choose the most qualified team on Thursday, and announce it on Friday morning. Now, you are dismissed to your classes."

Full of excitement about the upcoming competition, the men and the girl of Osaka High filed out of the auditorium.

Mizuki couldn't wait to start convincing her friends of Dorm Two to sign up as a team with her. From the look on Nakatsu's face, Mizuki knew he felt the same. He winked at her when he saw her giving him an eager smile. They both wanted excitement; and excitement had been delivered.

**End Chapter

* * *

**

Authoress here. With some explanatory notes on geography. Well, _one_ explanatory note on geography.

1. In Hana-Kimi, the school Osaka High is not actually located in Osaka. The city is located in the Kansai region, where the school is in the Greater Kanto Region, closer to the city Tokyo. Like in vol. two, when Nakao calls Nakatsu a yakuza (someone with an Osaka (the city!) accent) and when Nakatsu gets angry, Nakao replies with "You Kansai guys never give up."

(See! I ish not crazies! WheeeeeE! And for those of you currently disgusted/laughing at me for my nerdish knowledge, I stick mine tongue at thee. For it is those who give time on research that have the most convincing stories.)

For a map, go to this URL without the spaces:

http japanese guest houses . com / maps / images / regional map . Gif

I hope you enjoyed the beginning of my BRAND NEW, FIRST EVER Hana-Kimi fic. Hit the blue button and leave me some love!

Authoress GONE.


	2. Junk Boys

Authoress present.

Thanks for the reviews, sports' fans! They made my stomach go happy. (…?)

And, per request, I have updated! Inspiration was the Saiyuki song (in Japanese, the only words I understand are 'Junk boys, get down' unfortunately, it's got good beats) Junk Boys, for this chappie.

Good luck to those who are trying out for callbacks at play tonight. (Go bishie!)

Enjoy!

* * *

No Mountain High Enough  
Chapter Two: Junk Boys

_Hana Kimi_

"No. No way, no how."

Mizuki groaned inwardly. She was almost nose-to-nose with Sano, who was doing a wonderful job of ignoring her. He was staring determinedly down at the small paperback he had borrowed from the library.

Mizuki, however, was not one to be deterred. She had just asked her roommate to join her and Nakatsu's team for the Mountain race. Sano had blatantly refused.

_Oh, he **shall** crack,_ Mizuki thought, a smile coming to her face. _I have some tricks up my sleeve yet!_

Sano snuck a peek from his book and saw the broad smile cross Mizuki's face, and smirked a little. She wasn't going to be leaving him alone, then. Oh well. He was fine with that.

Mizuki backed up from her stance two inches from Sano's face, and looked around the laundry room. No one was in tonight, and the solitary rumbling of her and Sano's washing machines rumbled lowly.

"So, Sano, what colleges are you looking at?"

Sano looked up from his book. "None in particular, at least not yet."

"So… you haven't picked up any scholarships yet?"

"I've had offers."

"How much?" Mizuki paused, thinking. A horrified look came to her face. "Don't answer if I'm prying!"

"Ashiya, it's in your nature to pry. I'm used to it now." Sano replied, amused. He could see where she was trying to lead him. "And I've gotten offers that are better than what the race offers as a prize."

Mizuki fell silent, obviously deflated from Sano's dodge. Then she spoke again. "Did you know Nakatsu was thinking of asking Kagurazaka of being in our team?"

Sano had to grin openly at that. "That was sloppy, Ashiya. First of all, Nakatsu hates Kagurazaka. And he goes to a different school. And, he's probably headlining the team at Tokyo."

Mizuki stuck her tongue out at him, reminding Sano again of all of her obvious feminine mistakes. She looked so… girly, pink little tongue out at him, red lips forming a cute little 'o' around it… He shook himself mentally as she started talking again.

"-So maybe you'd consider it then?"

"I'm sorry, I missed the first bit," Sano said.

"I said, if I pulled the puppy dog face, then maybe you'd consider the race!" Mizuki pouted, bringing her hands up under her chin as if she where Yujiro, begging for food. The little pink tongue was back, as was a small flash of pearly teeth as she mock-panted. That in and of itself was sending Sano's mind in a completely gutter-worthy direction, but the fact that she was giving small dog-barks was what made him break into laughter.

Mizuki took this as a sign of him cracking under the pressure she was putting on him. She got onto her knees, giving little puppy-whines and yips. Sano kept laughing, until he finally calmed himself down enough to tell her to get off the floor.

"What if someone walked in and saw you going around on the floor? They'd think you were crazy."

"Do _you_ think I'm not crazy?" Mizuki said playfully, standing up.

"I never said that." Sano joked back. It felt so good to be able to talk like this to someone like Mizuki. Someone so fun and so easy to talk to, and someone so...His mind had started wandering down the road towards perverse thoughts until Mizuki's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Sano, why don't you want to compete? It sounds pretty awesome to me."

He sighed, tousling Mizuki's hair. "No real reason, except…"

The truth was, he did want to go on the mountain race. There was only one catch, and she was sitting next to him, complaining about him messing up her hair.

He couldn't form a team without Mizuki without hurting her feelings. And if he did have her with him in a team, she could get seriously hurt in the mountains in conditions built for a man's stamina and bodily abilities. And, alone with five other boys in the wild, Mizuki's secret risked being exposed. And Sano, no matter how much he wanted to compete, would let Mizuki come to danger.

"…Except I'm worried about my grades." The lie slipped out easily. Sano did _not_ want Mizuki to know he thought her unable to compete- that would hurt her almost as much as others discovering her gender.

Mizuki gave him a surprised look, and then a knowing one. "Sano, I've been your roomie for two years, and I know that even without studying you get high grades. So a small, harmless romp in the mountains isn't going to hurt you."

Sano shrugged, hoping she'd just change the subject. He glanced at the washing machine's timer; more than ten minutes remained on his load of dark clothes. No escape there.

"You don't think I can do it, can you?"

"What?" Sano looked at his roommate in surprise. She had guessed? How? Mizuki was usually comparable to concrete when figuring out ulterior motives. She was too trusting to think someone a liar!

Mizuki grinned. "Nakatsu says you're my mother hen. Don't worry, Sano. I've done enough track and now karate to let a little 'ole mountain phase me."

"Really?" Sano remained doubtful. Mizuki could be as fit as any boy, but her sex was still an issue. "There'd be zero privacy, you know. And no showering. And no pre-cooked food."

"I know." Mizuki sounded slightly annoyed now. "And I don't care. I'm not some sissy, Sano."

"I know," Sano hurried to pacify her, and cover his own blunder. "It's just, I know you like your alone time now and then. And some others in Dorm Two are pretty…. Nosy." He finished lamely.

Mizuki sat quietly in thought for a moment. Her gender identity had been a problem in her mind, (although she doubted that Sano knew about that business) but she knew that she could keep it a secret. If it rained, she'd put on a poncho! If she needed the bathroom, she'd run deep into the woods! And if she got her, erm, monthly, well, she'd just be really sneaky!

Mizuki clenched her fist in defiance to the challenges she faced. Sano watched her with amusement. She looked pretty sure of herself, and after the hoops he'd watched her get through to stay at Osaka, he knew to trust her. And, _he'd_ be there… to watch out for her.

"Go get the rest of the guys," he sighed. "We've got a team to sign up."

_Next day, at the track field_

Mizuki flew down the track, racing her shadow around the beaten-down dirt. Nakatsu, resting from his own sprint, held a stopwatch. As Mizuki thundered by him, he hit the button to stop it.

"Not bad, Ashiya!" Nakatsu called after her. She had let her legs slow down, traveling a fourth of the way around again before coming to a walk.

"Not bad? Not good, though, right?"

"Not even close to your record." Nakatsu tossed her the stopwatch as she strolled back towards him, catching her breath.

"What do you mean, not good?" Sekime demanded. He and Noe were sprawled in the grass by Nakatsu, enjoying the fine summer sun. At some point Kayashima had wandered out as well, but was now taking pictures of seemingly nothing. No one asked him what he was doing- the answer would be of the occult or of some ghostly being.

"It's not good." Mizuki grumbled. "It's like getting a B; it's not bad, but it's not the best."

"Geeze, I'll stick with tennis." Noe said, grinning up at Nakatsu and Mizuki. "As long as I pound the stuffing out of the ball each hit I keep getting one-hundred percent."

Sano jogged up, glazed with perspiration from jumping practice. "Hey. How's the sprints going?"

"Ashiya's failing," Sekime announced grandly. "He assigned himself a B."

"Sekime, I'd like to see you tear up the track like him!" Nakatsu jumped to Mizuki's defense.

"If someone can't even run _that_ slowly, they must be descendants of snails."

A voice at the chain-link fence made the group turn. Kagurazaka leaning against it, a smirk on his face.

"Why do you come here? Do you even have a life of your own, or are you too jealous of ours?" Nakatsu snapped.

"I get my kicks antagonizing you wimps." Kagurazaka smiled cruelly. "So, too scared to enter the Mountain race? My team was already selected at Tokyo, so I'll be the one kicking Osaka ass. If you _did_ enter, maybe you'll reconsider it now."

"I'll have you know we're going to be Osaka's team." Noe said grandly. Of course, the selection was set for the following day, but Kagurazaka didn't need to know that there was still a chance that the Dorm Two team might not compete.

"And we wouldn't pull out because a little boy like _you_ would be competing," Sekime added viciously. "In fact, that makes us more sure we're winning."

"Yeah," Nakatsu laughed, "we know the competition is a push-over."

Kagurazaka didn't seem perturbed by their insults. "Laugh while you still can, 'cause when Tokyo's done with you, they'll have to scrape Osaka off the mountainside, junk boys."

"Junk boys?" Mizuki grinned. "By thank you, Kagurazaka. You're right; we _will_ wipe the other teams, 'specially yours. So I guess we are the junk boys- cleaning up the competition."

Kagurazaka gave a 'huh' and turned to leave. "See you in the race, then, Princess," he flung back at Mizuki, who made a hand gesture that would have landed her in detention. The others laughed and repeated the gesture, mocking Kagurazaka and flinging insults at his back.

Sano looked at his friends, a small smile on his face. "Well," he said, "looks like we have a team name."

His words were greeted with applause. Junk Boys was official.

**End Chapter**

* * *

Authoress here. 

Ah, Kagurazaka. I like typing his name. Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka.

Okay, enough of that. I have math to do.

Leave me your thoughts, comments, questions, chocolates! (Apparently, the 'love leaving' didn't go over well. (wink.))

Out on the Broom 'O' Doom!


	3. Ready, Steady, Go

Authoress here.

I'm so sorry! I haven't quite gotten around to updating this lately, even though I've had this chapter half-written for awhile now.

Here it is!

**No Mountain High Enough  
Chapter Three: Ready, Steady, Go**

**

* * *

**

_Hana-Kimi_

The principal looked over the assembled student body, looking as grim as always. He cleared his throat into the microphone.

"Out of the seven sophomore teams submitted, the teachers and I have looked at the capability and qualifications of each with great attention to detail. After an extensive discussion and thorough examination of past school records, we've decided to elect Team Nakatsu as the team to represent Osaka High School at the annual mountain race."

Out of a mass of disappointed groans, six excited voices rose in a triumphant celebration. Mizuki gave a high-pitched squeal that, under any other circumstance, would have given her gender away immediately. Suspicion passed quickly, due to Sekime and Noe giving answering squeals of comparable volume and pitch. Nakatsu punched the air, while Kayashima merely gave an indulgent smile. Sano found himself unable to give much of a response to the good news owing to Mizuki giving him a sudden and tight hug.

"We're in, Sano!"

Sano gave the excitable girl a return hug before quickly releasing her. "Did you think we weren't going to be the representative team?"

"Well, Kayashima said, but you know-" Mizuki grinned.

Nakatsu had gotten up and clambered over their legs to hurry down to the front of the auditorium, amid the reluctant applause from the other students. The Junk Boys had voted him to be team leader, mostly because the team had been his idea in the first place. The principal shook his hand, and then handed him a thick folder. With a grin, Nakatsu bounded back to his seat.

"All we gotta do is fill out some forms, like medical crap and media release, and then we're good to go!"

_Two Days Later_

The little egg-shaped alarm clock rose as it played its simple melody. Mizuki wearily opened an eye at it and groaned loudly at the time it read. "Four 'o' clock! No one gets up this early!"

A sudden flood of light made her squint. Once her eyes adjusted, Mizuki saw Sano, fully showered and dressed, brushing his teeth in the bathroom. He peered around the half-opened door, and saw Mizuki still in bed. Rinsing his mouth of toothpaste, he called to her; "Hurry up, Ashiya! We've got to be on the bus in an hour, and you were too tired to pack last night!"

"Fine, y'crazy person." Mizuki flung off the cozy blankets and shimmied down the ladder. "Almost done with the bathroom?"

"Yeah. Scoot!" Sano let her run by, clutching a set of clothes. _That girl._

He looked at his neatly packed school-commissioned hiking backpack left near the door, and then to Mizuki's haphazard pile of hiking boots, windbreakers, tee shirts, shorts and jeans. Poking out from underneath the mess was her backpack.

"Hurry up, Ashiya!" Sano called again. "We want to get breakfast before we gotta leave!"

Mizuki showered and dressed in top speed, not even bothering to dry her hair. Running to her backpack, she began to fling things inside at top speed.

Sano watched her for a few seconds, before intervening. "Ashiya, you'll never fit everything in if you pack it that way."

Mizuki opened her mouth to argue, but Sano tugged the zipper on the backpack. Although only half of her supplies were inside, the zipper strained to shut.

"Fine. How would _you_ pack it?"

"Ashiya, you're a terror." Sano dumped everything back out, and began to fold. "You'd think packing to come to Japan would teach you!"

"My mother helped me." Mizuki admitted, turning a little pink. A rivulet of water coursed down her forehead from her damp hair, and Sano frowned.

"Go dry your hair, please. I'll finish this."

Mizuki got even pinker, and attempted to wrest the shirt Sano was folding away from him. "I'm fine. I'll do it."

"We can't have you catching cold before we leave. Go dry it." Sano said firmly.

"Sano-"

"No excuses. C'mon Ashiya, or…" Sano's face broke into a grin. "Must I torture you?"

Mizuki bravely stuck out her chin. "I can take whatever you dish out."

Without warning Sano launched himself at his roommate, fingers tickling her sides. Doubled up in silent, gasping laughter, Mizuki fought to get away.

"I give! I give! Lemmie go!"

Sano relented, and Mizuki hurried to the bathroom. Once the door was closed, Sano returned his attention to folding Mizuki's traveling clothes. Something slid out of one of the baggier pairs of pants she had selected and Sano absentmindedly picked it up to return to its place. Once he realized what he held he blanched, almost dropping it.

_So that's what these things look like,_ Sano surveyed the thing in distaste. He hastily shoved it back inside the pants, and continued to fold the clothes, until everything was neatly tucked away. When Mizuki emerged, fully dry, Sano was reading on his bed.

"Took ya long enough."

"Be quiet." Mizuki checked her bag, peeking inside. Everything was folded nicely, with room to spare.

Sneakily, Mizuki chanced a look at Sano. He was reading his book, looking completely normal.

_So he must have missed it._ Mizuki thought, a wave of relief passing through her. _Thank God I hid it last night. That alone would have blown everything! The one time I decide to try to smuggle a tampon or two, Sano insists on packing!_

_Half an hour later_

"I couldn't sleep at all last night," Nakatsu yawned, "I kept tossing and turning."

"He's telling the truth. He really was tossing and rolling all night." Kayashima grimaced slightly. "And grunting. Don't forget the grunting."_  
_  
The group was seated at their regular table in the large cafeteria, voices echoing weirdly in the emptiness. The kitchens had been opened early for them, so they could eat before they took the three hour long bus ride to the race's starting point. All teams were to be assembled there at ten 'o' clock for an overview of the rules and to pick up the food for the first leg of the race.

Noe glanced out the window at the gloomy gray morning outside. "I heard it'll be like this almost all day in the mountains."

"That's not true," Sano swallowed before continuing. "It gets really sunny, and really hot, around midday."

"Good, 'cause I packed sunscreen."

"Then you can share with me. All I got in by backpack are some clothes and my pillow."

"You can share with me too, Sekime, I didn't bring sunscreen either!"

The vice principal strode into the cafeteria, looking very out-of-place in a crisp suit in the run-of-the-mill cafeteria. "Okay, boys, time to go. Your things are loaded; let's leave on schedule!"

"I call seat next to Ashiya!" Nakatsu sang, jumping from his seat. The rest of the group followed, bickering about seating arrangements.

Junk Boys were on their way.

**End Chapter

* * *

**

Authoress here.

I really, really do apologize about my non-posting in awhile.

Tell me what you think!


	4. Rules and Regs

Authoress here.

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! It's so heartening to know people are appreciating one's story. So thank you very much to KIMIxLova, Ami Belle, LadyKatsu, Eris Snow, alchemistgrl09, DearBabySister(BlondeVersio...), Meiko M, tsumesgirl05, Endy's Girl, Melanie-Chan, Shinsei Yume, Magawa, fierceone, Morning view, Katsume18, and Yushiko Takeyama!

And, a very merry New Year to y'all. I hope you all had a good year.

Onto the chapter!

**No Mountain High Enough  
Chapter Four: Rules and Regs**

**

* * *

**

_Hana Kimi_

Kagurazaka blew noisily on the hot coffee he held, standing next to the buffet breakfast table laid out for the competitors. Taking a cautious sip, he watched the large bus pulling into the spacious field designated for parking. The side paneling displayed the kanji for Osaka High School.

Kagurazaka was almost certain what team would have been selected. He had guessed that Noe was bluffing when he had told Kagurazaka that they had already been selected, but the mere fact that the team had both Sano and Nakatsu made them a shoe-in.

He was not disappointed. The first person to hurry down the bus steps was the effeminate Mizuki Ashiya, followed closely by his bodyguards Nakatsu and Sano.

"I thought only men where supposed to compete in this event," Kagurazaka raised his voice so it carried to the new arrivals. "So tell me; what's Ashiya doin' here?"

Sano stiffened, and Nakatsu made a rude hand gesture. Ashiya, however, simply shot him a disdainful look. "Gee, Kagurazaka, didn't they tell you this wasn't a Boy Scout meeting?"

The rest of the Osaka team laughed appreciatively. Kagurazaka drained the Styrofoam cup's contents in one pull, and contemptuously threw it in the large bin beside the table. "You talk big now, Ashiya, but you're goin' to be clingin' to your little friends when you see what this course is handen' out. This isn't some paved track; you're out of your element."

"Oh, and I assume you think the wild is your element?" Nakatsu shot back. "Makes sense, you're about as smart as a gorilla."

As the Junk Boys dissolved into mocking laughter, a few other teens from the Tokyo team came up around Kagurazaka.

"I see the filth has arrived." One of the taller boys crossed his arms, smirking broadly.

Sekime whipped off his glasses and polished them imperiously. "Now that you've got your thugs around you, Kagurazaka, you feel better, right?"

"Stay out of it, Four-Eyes," another Tokyo boy sneered. "Hate t'see your glasses get broke."

All throughout the exchange, the two groups had been slowly moving towards one another. Now, the Junk Boys and the Tokyo Academy team were standing within feet of one another. The jibes died down into a cold staring match, and both teams were so focused on the other that they started as a new voice interrupted.

"I see birds of a feather flock together."

Kagurazaka whipped around, glare intensifying. "Tsubasa…"

A third group of teens were strolling towards them, a tall, dark-skinned boy at their head. He had strange green-black eyes, and a strong, wiry frame. Across his jersey, and the jerseys of his teammates were the words 'Nagasaki Central.'

"Glad you remember me, Kagurazaka," Tsubasa drawled. "But then again, with all the times my name was one ahead of yours on the scoreboards, I'd be _more _surprised if you _didn't_ remember me."

Mizuki turned to Sano, while Kagurazaka glowered at the smirking Tsubasa. "Who is this guy, Sano?"

Sano was also viewing the new arrival with a great amount of distaste. "He was Kagurazaka's big rival when I was… when I wasn't competing."

"Oh."

Kagurazaka was speaking again, and Mizuki hastened to listen.

"-Though you weren't talkin' so big when Sano started up again!"

Tsubasa snorted. "Like I'd be worried by some gimp!"

The entire Osaka team started talking all at once, shouting on Sano's behalf. Over the angry buzzing was Mizuki's voice, loud and strong.

"-LISTEN, YOU HALF-BAKED EXCUSE FOR A GUTTER-RAT, CALL SANO A GIMP ONE MORE TIME AND I'LL INTRODUCE YOU TO MY FOOT, AND YOU'LL HAVE A COUPLE OF TOE-SHAPED LIPS WHEN I'M DO- Mmph!"

Mizuki's tirade was cut short by Sano's hand clamping firmly over her mouth. She looked up, and saw Sano trying to hide his smile. He noticed her eyes, and shook his head once, signaling her silence.

"Truth is, Tsubasa," Kagurazaka cut in loudly. "You were only my competition _after_ Sano got hurt. You aren't in our league. That's saying something, if you can't stand on the same level as a loser from Osaka."

There was a small silence after Kagurazaka finished. The Junk Boys were trying to figure out if his statement was a compliment or a jibe, and Tsubasa was glowering at Kagurazaka as if he would like nothing more to land a fist in his face.

"Whatever, punk." Tsubasa regained his cool, and the smirk returned to his face. "Whoever finishes first will decide who truly the best school is. And it's not gonna be Tokyo, or Osaka."

"Big words for such an underdog," Nakatsu said boldly, and even Kagurazaka's team murmured their agreement. "This thing's between Osaka and Tokyo, and I think you know it."

Tsubasa's smirk only broadened. "I think you think wrong. We'll separate the men from the boys."

Kayashima spoke up from the back of the group for the first time. "I think it's obvious who the kids are here, Tsubasa."

Tsubasa's eyes narrowed. "Your funeral, boys. C'mon," he turned to his teammates. "Let's go somewhere where the air isn't so polluted."

The Nagasaki team departed amid hearty snickers from the other two groups. Once they had left, Kagurazaka turned to the Junk Boys.

"You're right, it's between us. But my team doesn't plan on losing."

Sano returned his stare. "Neither do we."

The two teams abruptly turned different ways and hurried away. Mizuki couldn't help feeling a little less hostile towards the opposing high-jumper; they had been temporarily united against Tsubasa. But now, it was obvious they were rivals once more.

_Half an hour later_

The race official spoke heavily into the microphone, addressing all seven teams as they stood anxiously at the starting line.

"You have been given your food for the first leg of the race, walkie-talkies, and a map of your own course. Each team will be on their own separate courses of the same lengths and difficulty, but that is no promise that you will not see one another throughout the race. All paths cross occasionally and at least at every checkpoint. There is no time limit on this race, but check-in by radio is required every day. Remember in case of emergency; there are helicopters within ten minutes of every part of each course."

The official looked over to where the rest of the adults were standing. Each was a representative of a different school, and none of them looked too thrilled to be standing by the others. But at the official's look they all nodded.

"Gentleman, good luck and remember that this is an event of sportsmanship. On your marks."

Mizuki felt that her heart was pounding so hard that she was sure everyone else could hear it. She tensed up, ready to jump into a flat run at the signal.

"Get set."

Sano, standing next to her, looked over and tried to hide his smile. Her face was caught between concentration and wild excitement, giving her a look of beauty that only someone who knew the truth would ever recognize.

"Go!"

Mizuki began to run, only to be slowed by a restrictive hand on her arm. She looked back to see Sano, grinning widely, holding her to a jog. Looking at the other teams, Mizuki realized that everyone else was taking off at a slower pace, saving themselves for the long distance.

Their path started climbing immediately, ascending into the mountains which the Junk Boys were soon to conquer.

**End Chapter

* * *

**

Authoress here.

Meh. Another chapter done. Hope it ish good! Reviews, please!


	5. Imagine That

Authoress here.

I'm afraid I may have spoiled everyone with my last two, highly-quick updates. Now that school has come back in full swing (_full-er_ swing, finals are looming) I can't make any promises as to updates. But thank you all for reading!

(Note: _sc_ means 'scene change.' Than you for your time.)

**No Mountain High Enough  
Chapter Five: Imagine That**

**

* * *

**

The day had been perfect, Mizuki reflected, and was coming to a perfect close.

The mountain trek had been rigorous, yes, but not as hard as she had expected. After they could no longer see the starting line, their course had run across a particularly rocky hill. There was a narrow path cloven into what looked like a cliff-face, and the Junk Boys were forced into single-file lines. Ever practical, Sekime suggested they use the climbing rope given to their team by the officials to rope each other together, in case someone lost their balance.

However a good idea, the rope had proven unnecessary, each member making their way carefully and swiftly. Once across the cliff-face, the course evened out into a gentle slope through a pine grove. The smell had reminded Mizuki forcefully of Christmas, and to her delight, they took a short lunch break there.

One stream-crossing later, they found themselves in a meadow that stretched out for another good three miles.

Nakatsu had voiced the general opinion when they reached the meadow. "I thought this course was supposed to be really hard. This isn't bad at all."

Sano nodded. "Yeah, it does seem easy. But I'll bet that it gets harder further up and further in."

"Oh, don't rain on our parade, Sano!" Noe had said brightly. "We've gone so far already today! What was our daily goal?"

"At least eight miles," Sano responded immediately. "But that was factoring difficult terrain and weather."

"And I'll bet," Mizuki had said, "That we've gone at least that, if not more."

_And now,_ Mizuki thought happily, returningto the present,_I'm sitting by Sano's side at a campfire, and it's a beautiful, cool night with a big, full moon._

Across from her, Nakatsu had impaled a hotdog onto the end of a sharpened stick. He was slowly turning it over the dancing orange flames, getting it to the perfect crispness and mesquite, campfire flavor. Noe, on the other hand, had stuck his hotdog in the center of the flames and let it catch on fire. After letting it burn for a couple of seconds he blew it out, announcing proudly; "It's done!"

The mountain air had cooled substantially after the sun descended behind the distant peaks. Mizuki shivered, and rummaged in her bag to find the jacket she had had ready to pack. It rested neatly near the top, folded carefully by Sano.

Sano noticed her, and grinned. "Whoa, you found that fast!"

Mizuki flicked a twig at him. "Be quiet."

"And look, it's all nicely folded, and there's no creases, no wrinkles-" Sano was cut off as another twig bounced off of his forehead. "Throwing foliage, Ashiya, not very gentlemanlike of you!"

Mizuki stuck her tongue out at her roommate. "We're in the wilderness, roughing it. I'm not gonna be gentlemanly!"

As if to accentuate Mizuki's point, Nakatsu slid his hotdog off of the stick and bit the better part of it off. His mouth full of the crisp, hot meat, he took a swig from his water canteen. Bits of partially-chewed meat and water ran over his chin.

"Nakatsu, that's just disgusting." Kayashima took a dainty nibble out of the hard-tack bread he held.

"Wha'?" Nakatsu looked at his roommate in bewilderment. "Ish no' 'isgushin.'"

His expression sent Mizuki into a fit of giggles. "See, Sano? Camping trip manners rule!"

Sano sighed in mock-despair. "Will I ever win?"

Five voices simultaneously called "NO!"

After the general laughter had subsided, Kayashima checked his wrist watch. "It's nine thirty, so let's get to sleep."

"Who's setting the alarm?" Nakatsu wanted to know.

"Me." Sano pulled the battery-operated timer from his backpack and set it quickly. "We'll be up around six."

Groaning at the ungodly hour Sano had set for them, the Junk Boys spread their sleeping bags around the dying fire. The stars were unbelievingly bright above them, and the night-time noises of the meadow were gentle and soothing. Out of the gathering darkness Mizuki spoke in a soft, sleepy voice. "G'night, guys."

_sc_

Sano shook Mizuki awake gently. "Ashiya. Ashiya!"

The sleeping beauty cracked open one eye. "Is it morning already?"

"No. We have to talk."

Wordlessly, Mizuki rose from her sleeping bag. Immediately Sano was aware of her sleeping attire; loose sweatpants that rested gently on the swell of her hips, and a similarly baggy, too-short tee shirt. Whatever restrictive garment she normally wore was missing, and in the moonlight Sano could clearly see the gentle curve of her chest. Peeking out in the gap between her shirt and her sweatpants was a toned stomach, her small belly button surrounded by smooth, pale skin.

Sano led her a good distance away from the others, until the general snoring was a quiet background noise. Then he turned and faced her.

"You're not being careful enough, Ashiya."

Her eyes grew round, and her breathing hitched. "W-What do you mean, Sano?"

"The others aren't so stupid that they won't find out." Sano ran a restless hand through his hair. "That's the reason I didn't want you on this trip in the first place."

"Sano, I don't understand what you're saying." Mizuki crossed her arms against the chill mountain air. "What do you mean, the others will find out? Why didn't you want me to come?"

Her voice was slightly accusatory, and Sano mentally kicked himself. "It's not that I don't think you can handle the race, it's… because of your secret."

The look on her face was clearly one of shock. Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes were round with apprehension. "What s-secret are you talking about, Sano?"

Almost unconscious of his actions, Sano reached out to smooth her cheek with his palm. "Mizuki…" His lips caressed her first name. "I've known."

"Sano..." Her voice was hardly more than a whisper. He leaned towards her, thinking that he could hear her better in a closer proximity, but syntripical motion propelled him past the boundary of politeness and into the zone of passion. It was but a hair's breadth between their lips when Sano stopped; hesitating, dreading and anticipating all in one terrifying moment. Then Mizuki pushed forewords; needy, breathless, frightened, thrilled.

The kiss was heart-stopping. He'd never known how soft a pair of lips could be until he had kissed Mizuki. The moisture, the heat- Sano was a stranger and desperately wanted to know more. He wanted to know everything, and in that moment, he knew Mizuki wanted to learn as much as he did.

A loud sound jerked them apart. An owl winged its way overhead, hooting loudly into the night sky. Mizuki sent Sano a terrified look before glancing back at the campsite, where their teammates were stirring. She darted towards them, and Sano reached out to catch her hand, and-

"GAH! Fucken' fire…"

Sano jerked awake, hand stretched out in front of him. His breath was coming quick and shallow, and he let his hand drop, feeling disappointed. Across fromhim,Nakatsu was swearing slightly, having rolled too close to the embers causing his sleeping bag to be singed.

"Y'all right, Nakatsu?" A sleepy-eyed Kayashima half-sat up to peer at Nakatsu.

"Yeah, fine." The soccer player grunted back, beating at his slightly-smoking sleeping bag. Noe and Sekime were stirring as well, groaning and rubbing their eyes.

"Morning, already?' Noe mumbled. The words brought back the memory of Sano's dream abruptly and he blushed, blessing the darkness.

"Not yet, Noe." Sekime checked his glowing watch face. "It's four-thirty."

"Aw, hell." Nakatsu cursed a final time before shuffling away from the glowing embers. "See y'in two-some hours."

"One and a half, actually."

"Shut it, Kayashima."

"G'night, everyone."

Sano glanced at Mizuki. She had slept soundly through the disturbance, clutching her sleeping bag up to her chin and snoring softly. Sano felt himself smiling, and, somewhat disappointed, he dropped back off to sleep.

_sc_

As dawn streaked the eastern sky, a quiet snigger broke the stillness of the morning.

"Shuddap, you idiots." A voice growled. "We don't know if the other teams are awake yet."

"It's five-fifteen. Who else would be awake this early?"

"I don't care what you think, but if we get caught doin' this, we're screwed. C'mon, get your pocketknife and help me cut this."

"Fine, fine." The second voice grumbled, and soon two knives were cutting through the thick cording of the rope-and-plank bridge. Beneath it was a black crevice, a crack in the bones of the mountain. It ran deep and long, the rope bridge being the only passage over it for at least a mile. Forests grew right up to the edge of it, and the thickets looked menacing and impenetrable.

With a snap, the robes coiled and jumped loose, stands cut thoroughly. The planks, strung together by the ropes, fell and clattered noiselessly on the other side of the gap. The two who had cut the ropes stood, admiring their handiwork. Now instead of a quick crossing, there was a twelve-foot gap in the middle of the path.

"You sure other teams will be crossing this way?"

"Yeah. Remember that offshoot course that intersected with ours late last night? If I remember the startups, both Tokyo and Osaka, along with another school, were to our left. Since the paths ain't crossed before now, they're probably going to get stuck here."

"Okay, if you two are done, let's get going, quick." A third voice urged, sounding nervous. "I still don't like this idea."

"You'll like it well enough when they're handing you a check for college." A fourth person snapped. "But you're right; let's scram."

"Alright. Let's go." The first voice sounded smug. "An' don't worry, Kaechi, no one will know. That bridge was old; some of the planks were rotten, remember? Those ropes cut pretty easily, so it could have been anything. And they'll be okay, they'll just have to radio for help, and then they're DQ-ed."

"Fine, if you say so, Tsubasa."

Tsubasa smirked, glancing back at the gap. "And I do say so. C'mon, we still got three other teams to beat."

**End Chapter

* * *

**

Authoress here.

CLIFFY! HA HA, WHADDYA THINK ABOUT _THAT?_

No, seriously, what do you think? Did you believe Tsubasa (an entirely fictional character, I assure you) could sink that low?

Did you believe that poor, hormonal Sano's dream was true?

Tell me! Hope you all enjoyed, I'll try to update again ASAP. (Grins) Now it's gettin' good…

Authoress OUT.


	6. Misstep

Authoress Here. FINALLY!

Sorry, finals have drained me for awhile, so I've been absent from Fanfiction. But Now I'm BACK! (Wohoo!) Thanks to the band L'ArcEnCiel for the inspiration and the chapter title.

**No Mountain High Enough  
Chapter Six: Misstep**

**

* * *

**

Mizuki's small egg-shaped alarm clock started beeping mutely, and she opened her eyes groggily. It was five forty-five, only fifteen minutes before Sano's alarm clock woke the others.

She slipped stealthily from her sleeping bag, and dressed as speedily as she could while staying silent. Running fingers through her hair to straighten it, Mizuki searched the area surrounding their campsite for firewood. The meadow had a few trees dotting the otherwise smooth grass, and Mizuki trekked to one and hunted around its base for twigs and fallen branches. Gathering what she found, Mizuki made her way back to the others.

She had just started arranging the few branches she had gathered over the remains of last night's fire when the shrill beeping of Sano's alarm sounded. She jumped at the sound of it.

"Morning." Nakatsu grunted, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Kayashima sat up, and Sekime gave a huge yawn. Noe groaned, pulling his sleeping bag over his head. Sano crawled out of his sleeping bag, squinting at Mizuki sleepily.

"What are you doing up?"

His voice had the soft, scratchy quality of being not-quite-awake, and Mizuki loved it.

"Oh, just excited. Woke up about fifteen minutes ago, and thought it was pointless to go back to sleep just to get woken up again."

Sano nodded knowingly. Fifteen minutes, and she could get dressed in privacy. Smart girl. "Here, let me help you with the fire."

"No!" Nakatsu sprang to his feet. "I'll help you, Ashiya."

In another twenty minutes, the group had a small fire going and was sterilizing the water they had taken from the stream yesterday. Then, they poured a little of it on the fire, used dirt to smother the embers, and were off again, all munching on cereal bars. They paused briefly to make the mandatory call to the next checkpoint, and then Sekime tucked the walkie-talkie into his backpack.

"Oh, good, another wooded bit." Sekime cheered as they neared a line of trees. "All this meadow was making me nervous."

"Nervous?" Noe looked quizzically at his roommate.

Sekime grinned. "You never know when Kagurazaka is going to appear from across the meadow and rip us apart!"

The group dissolved in laughter, walking quickly into the forest. The light had barely begun to filter through the ceiling of foliage.

"You make Kagurazaka sound like an oni!" (1) Kayashima snickered.

"He's ugly enough to be one," Nakatsu agreed.

"And what about that Tsubasa character?" Mizuki asked, grinning. "He looked ready to sprout horns at any second."

"I know!" Sekime announced. "They're a couple, and they're oni together."

More laughter greeted this, and Sekime, encouraged by the success of his ridiculous statement, capered forewords, singing a child's verse about oni at the top of his lungs. Kayashima knew the words and sang along, and Noe was so caught up in giggles he could hardly keep standing. Mizuki was doing an impression of Kagurazaka sprouting horns, and Nakatsu was laughing heartily at her silliness. Sano was trying hard not to smile, and to stay focused on the race. So, when Sekime suddenly disappeared, only Sano reacted first.

"SEKIME!" Sano shoved past Kayashima and Noe, only to stop short at a deep fissure, hidden by trees and deep underbrush. He nearly overbalanced, but Kayashima caught his arm before he fell.

"Sekime, can you hear me?"

There was no answer, and the silence was deafening.

Mizuki stared down, trying to spot their teammate, but the not-yet-risen sun cast shadows over the fissure, making it impossible to see the bottom. Mizuki dropped her backpack, sat down with her legs over the edge, and found a foothold. Before she could lower herself down, Nakatsu caught her arm.

"Whaddyou think you're doing?" Nakatsu demanded. He was answered by Noe, Kayashima, and even Sano copying her, finding footholds and starting the descent.

"We gotta go and make sure Sekime is okay," Mizuki began to climb down once more, and reluctantly Nakatsu let her. He moved over to find room for himself, and started.

"Hey guys, look at this!" He dropped to his knees, and gingerly fished out a thick piece of rope, connected to several sturdy-looking planks, which rattled and clanked on the rock walls of the sink. "There was a bridge here… hang on…"

He drew out the rest of it, staring in confusion at the cleanly-cut rope ends. "It was _cut!_"

The others stopped climbing briefly. "What?"

"There was a bridge, and somebody cut it." Nakatsu held up one sawed-off end as evidence. "Some sons of bitc-"

"Nakatsu, forget it right now," Sano interrupted. "And let the bridge back down. We can use it as a ladder."

Nakatsu lowered the severed bridge back down, and started descending first, the others following quickly.

"Sekime!" Mizuki's voice sounded unnaturally high with fright. "Sekime, can you hear me?-!"

There was no reply. The pressed on and soon a huddled shape in the middle of the wide gorge-floor was apparent, even in the dim light.

"Sekime!"

He appeared unconscious, and a tiny cut on his forehead, surrounded by a quickly-coloring bruise, told of his fall. His leg was bent strangely beneath him, and his hiking backpack was ripped and torn, cut by the rocks.

"His neck looks okay," Nakatsu reported, having knelt to check Sekime out. He's breathing, and his pulse is okay. I think we can move him, if we're careful with his leg."

Sano and Nakatsu deposited Sekime gently on the ground, flat on his back. He groaned, but didn't come around, when they had to move his leg. Nakatsu and Noe inspected it, Noe's face as white as a sheet.

"Okay," Nakatsu heaved a breath, looking slightly sick. "We've got to immobilize the leg, and elevate it. We need a splint."

"We could use one of the planks closer to the ground." Kayashima said immediately. "I'll get it."

""Good." Nakatsu bent his face downwards as if inspecting the leg. Mizuki suspected he needed the time to compose himself, having heard the shake in his voice. Noe was far from calm, tears falling silently down his face and hands clenched up to his lips. Mizuki could hear him whispering hoarsely. "Oh my gawd, oh my gawd, oh my gawd…"

Kayashima returned quickly with the plank, and Nakatsu quickly bound it onto Sekime's leg with strips of one of Sekime's already-ruined tee shirts. As Mizuki was positioning his ruined backpack to serve as a footrest, she stopped cold. Digging inside, she held up a very battered, and an obviously broken walkie-talkie.

Everyone stared at it. And then, as if by not acknowledging the problem it would go away, everyone busied themselves with different tasks. Kayashima volunteered to get firewood, to keep Sekime warm and to protect him from falling into shock, Sano used one of the water bottles to drench another ruined tee shirt to use as a makeshift icepack, and Nakatsu started fiddling with Sekime's splint, making it tighter. Noe borrowed Sano's water bottle and cleaned the cut on Sekime's forehead. Miraculously, his glasses were only slightly bent by the fall, and Mizuki worked at the wire frame to straighten it.

Mizuki blinked hard against the tears of panic that threatened to pour down her face. They made the call that morning, less than an hour ago. The race officials wouldn't get suspicious about their silence until the next morning!

"Ashiya," Sano's voice made her jump, and she looked at him quickly.

"Yeah?"

"The radio- we're going to need to go on for help or Sekime could die." Sano's face was blank as he said it, making Mizuki shiver. "So- I thought it'd be you and me."

"W-Why us?" Mizuki tried her best to keep the quaver out of her voice.

Sano smiled gently, worry still deep in his eyes. "Nakatsu's the only one of us who has taken health class this year, so he's got to stay in case Sekime needs him. Noe is in no shape to go, and we're both faster than Kayashima. I think we're the best bet."

Mizuki nodded abruptly, scrubbing at her face quickly and as surreptitiously as possible. "Yeah, you're right. We need to start right away, then."

Sano nodded gravely. "We'll leave as soon as the others are comfortable with Sekime."

Kayashima tossed an armful of firewood down a little way from Sekime, and then came down the makeshift ladder. Noe was sitting white-faced by Sekime's head, and Nakatsu was rummaging through his backpack, looking for anything useful. Sano went over and grimly told them of his and Mizuki's plan.

"We'll take one water bottle to share between us, and a little food," he told the others. "If we don't stop, we should get to the next check-in in a couple of hours. We'll go as fast as we can."

Nakatsu nodded, looking a little pale himself. "Okay. We'll stay here."

Sano nodded, and Mizuki looked at the opposite wall. There were plenty of footholds; the climb would not be too hard. She shouldered her pack, and without looking back she began to climb, Sano at her side.

**End Chapter**

**

* * *

**

Authoress hur. Not thur, but hur.

**1.** An oni is a Japanese devil-like demon, portrayed with two horns on their foreheads, usually dressed in tiger-skins, and they have the ability to fly. They eat the souls of those who have done evil in their lifetimes. Pretty much just a child's fear factor used by their parents, i.e. "Go to sleep or an Oni will come and eat you!"

My brain is mush. Hope the chapter was good.


	7. Rain

Authoress here.

I apologize about the fluke chapter update a few days ago. It was a chapter for another fic, and I wasn't paying the utmost attention as I was trying to load it.

Okay, folks, here's chapter seven of No Mountain High Enough. Be prepared for light, almost unintelligible fluff.

**No Mountain High Enough**  
**Chapter Seven: Rain

* * *

**

As if the weather knew that danger had come calling, the rain started about twenty minutes after Mizuki could no longer see the unobtrusive rift. The previously sunny skies were covered with thick, threatening storm clouds that slowly began to release a torrent of water on Sano and Mizuki.

Mizuki, glad once again for Sano's packing, had found her poncho easily and gratefully donned it while Sano did the same. Even with the protective plastic material, it was a matter of minutes before the hikers' socks and shoes were soaked. Mizuki freverently wished she had worn long pants instead of her shorts; the rain brought out a mountainous chill that raised goose-bumps all over her flesh.

Another unfortunate side effect of the downpour was that the trail became harder to see. Even with Sano's high-powered flashlight, the path disappeared a few feet into the gloom.

"This is probably making it worse." Sano sighed, flicking his flashlight off. "The light is bouncing off of the rain and making it harder to see."

Mizuki squinted in the absence of the powerful beam, noting with surprise that Sano was right. But, to add to the awful conditions, the loose gravel and dust that coated the trail was mixing with the rainwater to become a slippery, runny mess of mud.

"I hope the others made a proper shelter for Sekime." Mizuki voiced aloud, uncomfortable of the tense silence. "Though I don't know how we're going to make it to the checkpoint in time with this crappy weather."

"Helicopters can still fly in the rain," Sano mused. "And now I'm thinking we ought to turn around."

"What?" Mizuki slipped a little on the treacherous footing, catching herself in time. "Why would we turn around?"

"Another team may have caught up by now, and their walkie-talkie is bound to work." Sano looked at Mizuki, a worried frown on his fair face. "But then again, we could be on a route all by ourselves, or we could be last, and then by turning around we could be killing Sekime."

The finality of the statement sent a shudder through the cross dresser that was unassociated with the wind and cold rain.

"Then we've gotta go on." Mizuki looked at Sano, who nodded.

* * *

The rain hadn't abated in the next hour they spent walking. If anything, it had gotten worse. The trail conditions had gotten more dangerous as well, skating close to the edges of a cliff, before dropping down into the pit about fifteen feet. The path was once again chipped from the mountainside, about twelve feet across before an abrupt drop. The rain made the edge all the more menacing; it looked like an endless abyss, the shower falling forever into a black pit.

Sano kept glancing worriedly at Mizuki whenever he thought her not to be looking. She trudged on doggedly, watching her feet cautiously, sometimes sparing the cliff-drop a nervous look before returning her eyes to the path.

Brambles grew right up to one side of the path, ripping at their ponchos occasionally. Mizuki's was overly large for her, and it wasn't long before a particularly sharp branch caught the thin plastic. When Mizuki continued forewords, the material jerked, and one seam tore nearly three-fourths of the way up. Mizuki was jerked backwards, and Sano instinctively put out his arms to catch her.

The rain kept up its endless pounding. The wind still whistled around the cliff face. But Mizuki and Sano's hearts were now pounding a rhythm that seemed to drown all other noises out.

"Uh… t-thanks." Mizuki quickly righted herself, ducking her face is if to inspect her poncho to hide her brilliant blush.

"Yeah. No sweat." Sano's voice had dropped a decibel, low and barely audible over the wind. The moment only last for an eye blink; then Mizuki busied herself with the poncho again.

"Aw, great." Mizuki frowned at her ruined poncho. "Figures. Everything else is going wrong!"

The poncho hung awkwardly from one shoulder, making it useless to cover her effectively. Mizuki shrugged off her backpack with a sigh, and took it off. She slid it over the top of the backpack, to keep the contents dry. Then she reshouldered the pack and gave Sano a grim smile.

"Onward ho, right?"

Sano was about to reply when a loud, all-too-familiar voice rang out in the gloom.

"Saannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooo! Ashiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiya!"

Mizuki whirled around, almost losing her balance in the process. "Tell me that wasn't-?"

"Kagurazaka?" Sano squinted at the rapidly-approaching figure though the rain.

"The one, the only." Kagurazaka, slowed down as he caught up with the Osaka students. "That liar, Nakatsu, said you only left a half hour ago. I would have caught up to you a lot faster, then."

"What?" Sano frowned. "Your team was with Nakatsu and the others?"

Kagurazaka nodded, shaking the wet hair from his forehead. "Our team was maybe twenty minutes behind yours, and we stopped at the gorge when we heard voices from inside. We climbed down, and when your teammate's situation was explained, we radioed for a helicopter."

"So what're you doing here?" Mizuki asked bluntly.

Kagurazaka gave her a half-grin. "You two decided to play hero, and since there's no need, I volunteered to run you guys down and take you back. Then the whole Osaka team woulda been picked up, and my team could have jetted." He shrugged. "But you guys made tracks, and I don't think we can make it back in time for the helicopter."

Mizuki had to retrain herself from hugging Kagurazaka in relief. "So Sekime's gonna be okay!"

"Yeah." The Tokyo boy nodded. "He was awake when we got there."

"Thank God," Sano muttered.

"But I gotta go back for my team." Kagurazaka added. "I told 'em to wait for me, I didn't think you guys would go very far."

Sano looked quickly at his rival. "Thanks, Kagurazaka. Means a lot that you guys stayed to help." And then, as if the action was somewhat painful, Sano extended his hand.

Kagurazaka looked at it briefly, and then gripped it in return. "Sure, man. I know you'd do the same."

Mizuki looked between the high-jumpers with a growing smile on her face. Even though Kagurazaka was a callous and obnoxious person, she couldn't help feeling very amiable towards him. He and his team had probably sacrificed a shot at first place in order to help another team that had shown nothing but animosity before.

"Well, let's g-"

A noise like the earth was crumbling in on itself shook the skies, and Mizuki, Sano, and Kagurazaka dived towards the ground as a cascade of rocks began to roll and bounce angrily from overhead. Loosened gravel turned to mud caused the boulders to shift, and come tumbling down the path.

"Get moving!" Sano shouted, grabbing Mizuki around the middle and forcing her to her feet. "We gotta get out of this!"

Heeding his advice, both Mizuki and Kagurazaka began to charge away from the rockslide, going as quickly as possible without falling. The bramble to their left thickened, forcing the trio towards the edge. Mizuki slowed slightly nervous about the close proximity to the drop.

When the rockslide finally stopped, the path behind them was blocked by the resulting rubble. Breathing heavily, the three looked at it, and then wordlessly turned around and continued moving ahead.

Their path back to the others blocked, they had no choice but to continue towards the next check point in the thundering rain.

**End Chapter

* * *

**

Authoress here.

See? The fluff wasn't so bad!

More action in the next chapter. I promise.

Review if you do so desire, off to study chem for me!

Authoress out.


	8. Forced Metamorphosis

Authoress here. Only because Jack Bauer doesn't find me worth detaining. Hah ha!

What can I say? I'm a 24 fan.

And I can also say that I have VERY GOOD reason for not being here and typing up this chapter for so damn long. I name chemistry as the perpetrator. And Writer's Block.

Goodness gracious, I can barely type, let alone sit still! I just consumed espresso and I got all jumpy, still am! And I'm rambling. And I'm using 'and' to start sentences, and that's just hurtful to our beautiful English language. GEEZE! This is why you don't use drugs, kids. If caffeine (two shots! Two measly shots!) gets you _this_ worked up, imagine what drugs will make you do! I'd explode. Bam. No more Authoress.

SHUTTING UP! Chapter time!

**No Mountain High Enough  
Chapter Eight: Forced Metamorphosis

* * *

**

The rain didn't let up in the hour that passed after the rockslide. If anything, it pounded down with more determination than before. The going was slow, and cautious; Sano had the lead. Each footfall he tested the ground, and each step was a risk. The mountains had gone from a benign wilderness into a threatening creature.

"S-Sano," Mizuki couldn't stop the incessant chattering of her teeth, "do you see the path getting off of t-this cliff s-s-soon?"

She saw him shake his head once, not turning to face her. "Not that I can tell. I can't see more than a few feet ahead."

His voice sounded small and insignificant over the roaring of the rain, and it echoed feebly in the overwhelming blackness of the abyss next to them. Mizuki felt a thrill of fear clutch at her heart.

Kagurazaka said nothing behind her, but she could feel his presence nonetheless. She shouldered her pack, readjusting the ripped poncho to cover more of it. She herself was drenched, straight through to her vest. Silently blessing the dark navy color of her sweatshirt, Mizuki kept walking slowly behind Sano.

"Ashiya, you should take my poncho." Sano stopped, and turned halfway. He apparently heard her adjustment. "I'll be fine," he added, seeing her open her mouth to protest.

"No, Sano." Mizuki responded, more firmly than she felt. "I'm already wet. A little more rain won't do me any harm. At least let's keep you dry."

"Listen, lovebirds, can we keep this little party moving?" Kagurazaka broke his silence, sounding angry. The rain, coupled with the rockslide, had made the high jumper extremely irate.

"Shut up, Kagurazaka." Sano returned, quietly. It was hard to hear him over the rain.

"Listen, Sano, had your bonehead teammate watched his step, he wouldn't have fallen, and we wouldn't be in this friggen' mess." Kagurazaka growled. "Don't tell me to shut up."

"Had Sekime seen the ravine, then _everyone_ would be in this mess," Mizuki scowled up at him, jumping to Sano's defense. "Then twelve people would be stuck on this ledge in the rain, instead of just us three."

"If that had happened, then both teams would probably be past this, and it would have still been sunny out." Kagurazaka retorted.

"Both of you, quiet." Sano's voice was quiet, but commanding. "It's no one's fault, and this isn't helping. Just concentrate on keeping your balance."

Properly chastised, Mizuki and Kagurazaka fell silent. Sano started foreword again, testing the next patch of ground gingerly before putting his full weight onto his foot.

The progress was slow. The next twenty minutes blurred together in Mizuki's mind as the rain, the cold, and the view of Sano's dark head bowed in concentration became one whirl of misery. _Why did I ever convince Sano to make a team with Nakatsu and me?_ Mizuki chewed her lip, eyebrows knit together in gloom. _This is totally all my fault._

"Sano," Kagurazaka spoke up, quietly. "Why did you and Mizuki go on ahead? Why not that Nakatsu guy?"

Mizuki got the feeling that Kagurazaka was feeling the same way she did, and was making conversation merely to break the tension. Sano must have thought the same, for he answered civilly.

"Nakatsu's the only one to have taken first aid in the group. We left him because Sekime might have needed him. Ashiya's the fastest, too."

"Oh." Kagurazaka fell silent, searching for a topic. Then he spoke again. "He said that the ropes were severed. I looked, and I could see where he would get that idea. Any clue on who might have done something so fuckin' mean like that?"

"I have a theory." Sano said shortly. "But I'm going to concentrate on the path."

"Oh." Kagurazaka continued to walk, silently. Mizuki almost wished he'd ignore Sano's warning and start talking again. An odd sensation of claustrophobia pressed against her; the bleak surroundings seemed to squeeze in. She suddenly wanted to throw her arms around Sano, so he could fight against the feeling for her.

"Shit-!" Sano stopped short, backing up a pace. Mizuki peered around him, squinting to see the cause of his stop.

The ground in front of his feet had been affected by the rain, and when Sano had tested it, it crumbled away. "Back up." Sano commanded. "Quickly!"

Mizuki obeyed with more speed than Kagurazaka, and they collided. Moving back with her momentum, Kagurazaka stumbled. The ground at Sano's feet began to form into a muddy slide, tumbling away from the path in a fluid, awful motion.

"Sano!" Mizuki screamed

Sano floundered, and then awkwardly flung himself forewords. Landing on the path beyond the rapidly growing gap, he caught hold of a stunted sapling growing haphazardly from the cliff wall and pulled himself out of danger. Kagurazaka grabbed Mizuki under her arms and bodily heaved her backwards, landing on his back. He scrambled backwards further, one hand on Mizuki's backpack strap. The ground beneath them held, and the pair slumped down, gasping for air.

"Sano! Are you okay?" Mizuki sat up, and peered through the rain to see Sano's form past the gap.

"I'm fine. You?" Sano called back. He sounded a little shaken, and Mizuki couldn't blame him. She heard a tremor in her own voice.

"We're okay!" Mizuki assessed the situation, worry growing on her face. "Well, we're okay… kind of."

"What's wrong?" Sano called, concern apparent in his voice.

"The gap," Mizuki called back, grimly. "It's pretty wide."

"Yeah," Kagurazaka measured the distance with his eyes. "But we can jump it."

Mizuki surveyed the gap with alarm. "Jump it? I wouldn't trust the ground on the other side to hold my weight, let alone yours."

"We don't have much of a choice, otherwise." Kagurazaka argued. "Sano! How's the footing on the other side?"

Mizuki could barely see Sano testing the ground across the gap. "It's okay, especially if I can help pull you foreword. It should hold."

"You could jump it." Mizuki said, slightly panicked. "I don't think I could!" It looked to be seven or eight feet, and Mizuki guessed it would be wise to land further away from the edge, to avoid further damage.

"Ashiya, we don't got many more options." Kagurazaka looked at her.

"I can't jump very well at all," Mizuki said wildly. "I'll just stay here, thanks. You go ahead, I'll stay here. Just go, I'm staying here."

She was well aware she was babbling, but she couldn't stop herself. The gap seemed to yawn before her, and she feared the entire ledge would crumble away beneath her if she tried to move, let alone jump. The claustrophobia was worse now; she could hardly draw breath. She began to gasp.

"Sano, he's panicking." Kagurazaka touched her shoulder, trying timidly to calm her.

"Don't touch me!" Mizuki's voice was shrill. "It'll all cave in!"

"Nothing's gonna happen, we're okay." Kagurazaka shook her a little. She jerked away.

"Mizuki!"

She froze. Sano called her by her first name.

"Mizuki, look at me."

She obeyed woodenly. Sano's dark gaze anchored her.

"I won't let you get hurt."

She wouldn't have believed anyone else but him. Slowly, Mizuki nodded.

"You can jump this." Sano's eyes bored into her. "This is nothing."

The gap seemed to shrink with the power of his voice. It didn't seem as daunting, all of a sudden.

Sano took off his poncho, and then spread his arms wide. Even through the rain and the gloom, Mizuki could see them, safe and strong.

"I will catch you."

_Yes._ Those words triggered her into motion. She unlocked her muscles, and stood, weaving slightly on unsteady knees.

"Take off your pack." Kagurazaka said suddenly. "You'll have an easier time."

His voice jostled Mizuki out of her dream-like state. She slipped the backpack off, and looked at Sano again.

He held his arms out encouragingly.

She took a deep breath, and backed up a few steps. Then, she ran and launched herself into the air.

The heart-stopping sensation of rain pelting her midair was terrifying. She knew almost at once she did have enough momentum to make the gap. The sudden widening of Sano's eyes told her the same thing. She was helpless to do anything, except flail uselessly.

Mizuki squeezed her eyes shut.

With a jerk, she stopped falling. Her eyes shot open. Sano had caught the neck of her shirt, but the sudden stop in her descent created a new problem. Her arms flew up, and she slipped out of the baggy sweatshirt she wore.

Another jerk.

Sano's free hand caught the shoulder of her vest. He dropped the empty sweatshirt to grasp it with both hands. It quickly blended with the blackness, fluttering out of view. The strain of her body on her vest ought to have alerted her to danger, but Mizuki couldn't think of anything but the blackness under her dangling feet.

"Mizuki, grab on!"

Mizuki barely heard Sano's shout. Eyes riveted on the abyss below, she couldn't move. Her zipper strained, coming undone at the top, and slowly peeling open under the awful strain.

"Mizuki!"

His voice seemed very far away, but it reached her all the same. Her feet kicked back, and met with the cliff-face behind her. Using her legs, she managed to find the barest of footholds.

Sano heaved up, her zipper slid down, and Mizuki used every last ounce of energy to force her body up. Sano let go with one hand to grab her around one shoulder, and their combined efforts proved successful.

Gasping, Mizuki collapsed into Sano's embrace. He squeezed her, rocking slightly.

"Mizuki, I- You're safe." Sano breathed. He half-dragged her away, leaving room for Kagurazaka. The high jumper cleared the distance easily, even with the added weight of Mizuki's pack.

"He okay?"

"Yes." Sano murmured the answer, muffled by Mizuki's hair. He looked down at her. "Can you stand?"

"Y-Yeah." The answer was weak and breathy, but Mizuki pulled away.

Sano stared.

Kagurazaka gaped.

Mizuki looked down, and then snapped her arms up with a gasp.

The zipper had slipped down far enough to show the gentle- yet unmistakable- swell of her breasts.

**End Chapter

* * *

**

Authoress. Here. Right. Now.

So, because I blabbered on and on at the beginning of the chapter, I thought it only prudent to let the chapter go long and deep into the crux of my plot.

YOU LIKEY?

Gee, I haven't stayed up all hours of the night to finish a chapter in a long time. Hoory for Spring Break!

Review? Yes? Happy? Maybe? Yay!

Okay, sleep is desperately needed….


	9. How I Know You

Authoress here. I will start this out by quoting a friend of mine; "Here are some Authoress notes that can be skipped without great consequence."

I have a cycle. No, not the feminine cycle; (well that too, but barring that, and moving on) a creativity cycle. Fist, I'll be a writing fiend. Then, as that dies down, I'll want to do nothing but sit and draw, sculpt, paint. Then, while that fades out, I'll feel absolutely worthless in the ways of art and prose and just read a bunch. I have just passed the latter and am now bounding eagerly into the first. So it's time for another chapter.

I realize the chapter name is horribly _Aida,_ but only as a few readers will notice and become agitated I deem it okay to use.

I so very much appreciate all the reviews I've been getting, too. It's so wonderful to have such enthusiastic encouragement from such wonderful fanfic readers! I Squee each and every one of you, and possibly it will be of interest to you to note that whenever any one of you takes the time to send me a note, I am filled with a supreme joy. So, thank you everyone.

CHAPPIE TIME!

**No Mountain High Enough  
Chapter Nine: How I Know You**

**

* * *

**

The trio remained motionless of the mountainside, Mizuki unable to do more but feebly try to cover herself with her arms. Kagurazaka was staring at her as if she had just sprouted an extra arm, and Sano was shooting concerned looks at the Tokyo boy. Then, Sano brusquely reached over, gently pried Mizuki's arms apart, and zipped up her vest up all the way to her collar bone.

"If you say anything, to _anyone_, I will hunt you down, Kagurazaka."

Mizuki and the opposing high-jumper looked at Sano, startled.

"You knew?" Kagurazaka's eyes widened even further. "You knew Ashiya was a …w-was a-"

"Yes." Sano said curtly. "Hand me her backpack."

The use of the female pronoun jarred Kagurazaka into motion. Wordlessly he dropped the backpack at Sano's side. The teen quickly unzipped it, and drew out another sweatshirt.

"Mizuki, you need to put this on." Sano used a gentler voice with his shocked roommate, handing her the sweatshirt. She woodenly pulled it on, eyes fixed on Sano's face.

"When did you-?"

"Awhile ago," Sano admitted. "After the soccer game where Nakatsu accidentally knocked you out… I, um, carried you to Doctor Umeda-san's infirmary."

"That was… That was the b-beginning of freshman year!" Mizuki's face was full of horror, mind replaying the last two years, all the times she accidentally got into Sano's bed… the near misses when he came out of the shower early, before she was fully dressed… the time Sano got drunk and _kissed_ her…

"He- S-She looks pale," Kagurazaka observed, awkwardly.

"Mizuki?" Sano looked into his roommate's face worriedly. Hardly could he have known that their close proximity was the catalyst for Mizuki's sudden dizziness, but his closer inspection of her made Mizuki's stomach churn.

_He _knew!_ He knew all along!_

"I knew it!"

Both Sano and Mizuki whipped around to stare at Kagurazaka. The high jumper, despite his recent shock, was grinning madly.

"I knew the great Izumi Sano wasn't a queer!"

Sano frowned. "You thought I was gay?"

Kagurazaka snorted. "Hell yeah! You were so damned protective over Ashiya; I could have sworn you were gay! Obviously, now…" Kagurazaka winked. "You're just a normal, hot-blooded man."

"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Mizuki squeaked, having grasped the full meaning of Kagurazaka's words.

"Just what it sounds like." The high jumper smirked.

_I'm gonna faint. The first thing I do after I know Sano knows I'm a girl is to faint. That's pathetic._

"Keep your mouth shut." Sano snapped. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Really?" Kagurazaka grinned devilishly. "Then why are you so defensive?" He leaned foreword. "Even better, why are you blushing so much?"

"You have an over-active imagination." Sano glared daggers at Kagurazaka, the heat in his face mounting. "It's far too dark to see if I'm blushing or not."

"Granted," Kagurazaka shrugged. "But you're being so defensive, it _must_ be true."

"Its not-" Sano cut off abruptly as Mizuki slumped over backwards, straight into his awaiting arms. "Mizuki?"

"She _fainted?"_ Kagurazaka was incredulous. "Gawd, now there's no question as to whether or not she's a she."

"Her zipper coming down wasn't enough of an answer?" Sano replied, curtly. "Stop gawking and help me get a shelter up. We're here until he-" Sano paused, unused to calling Mizuki a 'she' in public, "until _she_ wakes up."

* * *

Mizuki's eyelids fluttered, and then opened. She had to squint; the sun filtering through the bright-yellow poncho a few feet above her head was blinding. She sat up, yawning, wondering why Sano's alarm hadn't gone off. Nakatsu wasn't complaining yet, and Noe and Sekime were quiet- _Wait, Sekime?-!_

The events of the last twenty-four hours rushed back to her in a torrential flood. Mizuki snapped her arms up to her chest instinctively, noticing she still wore the sweatshirt Sano gave her last night.

Looking around, she saw that Sano and Kagurazaka were still sleeping, Sano at her side, and Kagurazaka propped against the cliff wall. They had rigged Mizuki's ripped poncho to be a sort of lean-to, using a couple of sticks to hold it up.

Mizuki crawled forewords, wanting a look at the gap she and Kagurazaka had to cover the night before. What greeted her eyes made her gasp.

What, in the lashing rain and thick darkness, had appeared to be a deep abyss was actually a shallow gully, maybe twelve to fourteen feet deep. The path they were on had been carved out of the mountainside, and a small, happily-gurgling stream wound its way down the middle of the gully. Mizuki saw the gap, and groaned aloud. Had she fallen, she would have dropped four feet and hit the gentle slope below the path.

"Ashiya-?" Sano's sleepy mumble made the teen turn around.

"Sano." Mizuki didn't quite know how to act around her roommate, now that she knew he had known of her true identity. All of those times-! The very thought made her squirm inwardly.

"Ashiya-," He was using her surname again. "This doesn't really change anything, does it?"

"I dunno." Mizuki blinked a few times, daring the tears gathering to fall. "Does it? All of a sudden, I'm a girl again."

"Not all of a sudden." Sano responded, quiet and calm. "Ashiya, we're still friends. This doesn't change that fact."

"T-Thanks, Sano." Mizuki sniffed a little, and then jabbed a finger towards the path, abruptly changing the subject. "Did you see the dangerous cliff-face we were facing last night?"

Sano crawled forewords as she had done, and stared.

"So… We _weren't_ in mortal danger last night."

"Nope."

"We could have just-"

"Yep." Mizuki nodded, in grim humor. "We could have skipped across this section of the trail, and we'd still have been okay."

"That sucks."

"You're tellin' me!"

Their conversation woke Kagurazaka. "Whatchya lookin' a- Shit!" The other high jumper saw the terrain, and swore loudly. "So we thought we were risking our lives, and all this friggen' time it was this measly little thing?"

Sano nodded grimly, and Kagurazaka grumbled a little more before digging out his canteen. "Might as well make the best of it," he sighed. "I'm gonna go get some h-two-oh from the stream."

As he departed down the innocent-looking slope, Mizuki felt a smile tugging at her lips. Her secret, which she had guarded so judiciously (or so she had thought), had been exposed in the face of a danger that wasn't even there. Even though she felt like she ought to be mortified and worried sick, she felt very light. The entire pack of lies that had been spun to Sano were no longer an issue. She still didn't know how to _act_ around Sano, now that the protection of same-gender was gone; but she didn't have to lie now.

Sano must have noticed her internal struggle between relief and anxiety.

"Ashiya, did you ever play with cardboard boxes as a kid?"

She started, and stared at him. "Huh?"

He grinned at her vacant expression. "You know, big cardboard boxes, like from a new washing machine, or a refrigerator."

"Oh… yeah, I s'pose I did."

"I used to love cardboard boxes." Sano looked at a faraway place only he could see, a reminiscent smile on his face. "Shin and I used to play with them for hours on end."

Even though Mizuki was clueless as to where this conversation was going, she was glad to sit and listen. Sano hardly ever talked about his family, let alone his childhood; every tidbit of information he gave her, she cherished.

"We'd get toys for our birthdays, and instead of playing with the toys, we'd go straight for the boxes they came in. We'd be just about anything in those; race car drivers, turtles, pirates." Sano smiled. "Shin always liked to be a robot, but I always wanted to play a plane pilot."

"So you've wanted to fly for long time," Mizuki said softly.

Sano smiled warmly, as if pleased Mizuki reached this conclusion. "Yeah, you could say that." He paused, looking hard at his roommate. "The point is, though, as we got older, the novelty just sort of wore off. But even now, whenever I see a big cardboard box, I feel eight years old again, because those aren't just boxes. They're planes, ships, or race cars."

The analogy became clear to Mizuki at that point, but she let him finish.

"I don't blame you for pretending to be a boy to get what you want. I don't want you to feel like anything will change." Sano paused, clearly feeling a little awkward about being so vocal about how he felt. "Whenever I look at you, I don't see some foreign-exchange cross-dresser. I see Mizuki Ashiya, my roommate, my pep-talker. I see my friend."

Mizuki sniffed a little, scrubbing the back of her hand across her face. "I know, I know," she mumbled softly, "Guys don't cry."

Sano's arms made their way around the slender girl. She stiffened for a moment, surprised, and then relaxed into their strong grip. Sano murmured to her, voice muffled by her hair, "But you're a woman."

_Woman_. He thought her a woman.

His behavior was definitely different than his usual calm persona, but his were words which needed to have been said. Mizuki smiled at the thought, and quickly hugged her roommate back.

"Thanks, Sano."

"You're welcome, Ashiya."

"Hey, guys! We should pack up, and hurry on to the next rest-stop!" Kagurazaka clambered back up the slope, face and hair wet from a brief scrubbing in the stream. He made no sign that he had noticed Mizuki and Sano stepping hurriedly away from one another, and instead made towards the temporary lean-to. "I'm getting something to eat. I'm starved."

Mizuki and Sano exchanged glances, and then went to help Kagurazaka break camp.

"Hey, um, Kagurazaka?" Mizuki spoke up timidly. "Are you going to tell-?"

"Nah," The high jumper waved a hand dismissively. "What's the point? Get you kicked out of Osaka High, sent back to wherever the hell y'came from, and miss the chance for picken' on you later? Not worth the hassle."

Mizuki smiled, once again resisting the feminine urge to give him a grateful hug. "Thanks, Kagurazaka."

"Whatever. Hurry it up with that lean-to, Princess."

"_Princess?-!_"

Kagurazaka laughed as Mizuki's face slowly colored with indignation. As her stream of insults poured out ("You frog-faced, slug-kneed bung-tongue, don't you dare call me Princess again!") Sano grinned. Things were back to normal.

**End Chapter

* * *

**

You know, I highly considered making this the last chapter. Then I thought, 'End another story with only nine chapters? Pen, Pen, dear old Pen, what's wrong with you? Whatever happened to the twenty-six chapter extravaganzas?' So, the story will end more completely (and hopefully more satisfying) than this.

Hope you all liked the chapter! Now, I'm off to find me a cardboard box. All this reminiscing in this chapter has inspired me to make myself into a cardboard-riden' cowgirl once again. Don't believe me? I've made cardboard cowponies before…

Authoress out on the Broom-O-Doom.


	10. Proof

**No Mountain High Enough  
Chapter Ten: Proof

* * *

**

As the waster cascaded from the hose nozzle, Noe swing it around so that the steam hit Nakatsu dead in the face. The bleach-blonde sputtered angrily, abandoning the full bucket of water he held and tackling Noe bodily. The early-summer day was rent with battle cries and shrieks. Dorm 2 was outside after school, enjoying their time off and the use of a nearby hose and spigot. 

Sekime, on crutches two weeks after his fall, cheered them on in turn from his seat on the grass nearby.

"Get the hose from him, Nakatsu! Throw him off, Noe!"

Mizuki laughed as Noe threatened to shove the hose up Nakatsu's nostril, turning to Sano. "What weirdos. Why do we hang out with them again?"

"Beats me." Sano yawned lazily, leaning back in the grass. "Ugh, I'm still wiped from the race."

Mizuki nodded, running her hand through Yujiro's fur. "That was way too much excitement than what I signed up for."

Sano shifted to look at her. "Is the world ending, or were you joking?"

"What?"

"Too much excitement for _you_? Ashiya, the world's most fearless thrill-seeker, has had too much excitement from a small romp in the mountains?" Sano teased, poking at his friend's side. "Wasn't it your idea in the first place?"

"Mine and Nakatsu's." Mizuki corrected. "That wasn't just my fault."

"It wasn't either of your faults, what happened." Sano said grimly. He reached over Mizuki to pat Yujiro's head, and earned a sloppy lick on the hand.

"I know…" Mizuki sighed. "Say, did the race officials ever release what happened to the press? I haven't been watching the news."

Sano allowed himself a smile. "No, but no news is good news. If they turned themselves in quietly, then the officials would have kept it quiet."

_Two Weeks Prior_

Mizuki had never been so glad to see Hokuto Umeda. The doctor was standing by the helicopter pad, body language speaking his displeasure in volumes. Next to him was a man with the Tokyo Academy colors on his jacket; Mizuki assumed he was there for Kagurazaka.

The large helicopter she, Sano and Kagurazaka sat in slowly lowered itself onto the pad like an overgrown, mechanical bird of prey, and without waiting for the blades to slow, Doctor Umeda and the Tokyo Academy man rushed foreword.

Umeda looked Sano and Mizuki over quickly, looking for any large physical damage. When he didn't find any, he put his hands on their opposite cheeks and banged their heads together.

"Ouch! Doctor, what was that for?-!"

"That's for leaving your group." Umeda snapped. "What part of 'stick together' do you not understand? Obviously, something must be confusing because the moment something goes wrong you decided to play _hero_ and run off without a walkie-talkie and-"

"We had good reasons-" Mizuki started furiously, but Umeda clapped a long-fingered hand over her mouth.

"Enough! I know you had good intentions, however…"

As the doctor began to lecture them, Mizuki smiled to herself as it suddenly dawned on her; Umeda was behaving so strangely because he had been worried about them. She resisted the urge to hug him.

"-And next time, if I even catch you stepping out of line, there will be _hell_ to pay." Umeda finished. Mizuki grinned at him.

"Thanks for caring."

"You're welcome." Umeda snapped.

Kagurazaka had finished his reunion with the Tokyo Academy coach, and led him over to the small Osaka group. "Sano, Ashiya, we need to report how the bridge was cut."

Umeda looked at Kagurazaka coolly. "That is also what I heard from the other competitors in the Osaka team, and race officials checked it out when they picked up the remainder of the Osaka and Tokyo teams. They agree with you; but there's no evidence as to who were the perps. Three other teams used the same bridge that you and Kagurazaka's team did; Nagasaki Central, the Kanazawa team, and the team from Kóbe."

Sano spoke up quietly for the first time since getting off of the helicopter. "Is the race over with yet?"

The Tokyo coach looked over at him. "No, but the first teams, Yokohama and Nagasaki, radioed in at the last checkpoint about twelve hours ago. It won't be long before the winners come in."

Sano nodded, silently digesting the information. As Umeda and the Tokyo coach moved away to speak with an approaching official, Sano spoke to Mizuki and Kagurazaka in an undertone. "Remember when I said I had a suspicion of who cut the bridge?"

"Yeah?" Kagurazaka crossed his arms.

"Well, now I'm sure of it. When you made the radio check point call the day Sekime fell, there was some interference, and I thought I recognized Tsubasa's voice radioing in for the second checkpoint. That would have put them about two hours ahead of us, because the second checkpoint was about that far from the bridge in decent weather. That means Tsubasa's team would have crossed the bridge at dawn, or slightly before, and by the time we got to it, they were already leaving the second checkpoint."

"But a different team could have come in behind them, and in front of us." Mizuki protested.

"That's what I thought, until the Tokyo coach told us who was in the lead." Sano murmured. "Only two teams were coming in first, and one of them, the Yokohama team, wasn't one of the teams who used that bridge. I'd be willing to bet that Tsubasa kept his team going hard to beat everyone, while doing dirty tricks along the way. I know of the team captains from those other two teams from track. They're too honorable to do anything as dangerous as cutting the bridge."

"I believe it." Mizuki's eyes were wide. "But that's not good enough proof to get Tsubasa in trouble."

"You're right." Sano whispered. "But that's not stopping us from getting the proof." His eyes were hard. "No one puts my friends in danger and gets away with it."

Kagurazaka's expression was similarly cold. "Tell us your plan."

As the Tokyo coach had predicted, the first team crossed the finish line in a relatively short time after the helicopter brought Mizuki and her friends in. They had joined their other teammates at the finish line, Sekime looking well except for a cast on his leg and a pair of crutches. However, all of the Junk Boys, and Tsubasa's team, looked furious on missing out on the race.

"From what the helicopter people said, we were towards the front of the pack." Nakatsu said bitterly. "We coulda pushed hard after the second check-point and won the thing."

A boy from the Tokyo team had similar feelings. "Yeah, us too. If I ever figure out the fucken' punk who cut that damn bridge, I'm gonna…" He thwacked his palm with a fist. His teammates murmured their agreement, scowling.

Sekime felt horrible for the whole thing, and had apologized profusely. However no one, not even the Tokyo team, held him responsible, but he still felt guilty. He kept apologizing until Kagurazaka threatened to hit him with a crutch if he didn't stop. Then, Sekime had assumed an angelic expression and had said, "You wouldn't hurt a cripple, would you?"

A roar went up from the small crowd of locals and families of the competitors who had gathered around the finish line. The Junk Boys and the Tokyo team quickly stopped talking and strained to see the first team in.

Six boys slowly came into view, running full-out up the steep path. Each one looked exhausted but exhilarated, putting their last reserve of energy into the final stretch. Urged on by the onlookers, they came pounding up the hill, and the first runner broke through the paper ribbon tied across the finish line. The team from Yokohama had won.

Sano looked satisfied. "Even with cheating, Tsubasa couldn't win!"

Indeed, the Nagasaki team came in about ten minutes later, running full-out as the Yokohama team had been. They faltered as they saw the broken ribbon, but ran across the finish line all the same. Sano, Mizuki, and Kagurazaka watched closely as Tsubasa shook hands with his coach, and then as he followed his team towards a large tent set up for the finished teams. Walking quickly, they followed him.

"Tsubasa." Sano spoke loud enough for only the high-jumper to hear him. Tsubasa turned, and when he saw who was speaking, his face broke into a wide smirk. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the losers. How was your helicopter ride?"

"What I want to know is how you beat us, Tsubasa." Kagurazaka spat. "We saw your team not three miles in front of us on the second day."

Tsubasa smirked all the wider. "We're just faster, that's all. Well, smarter, too."

"Oh?" Sano said quietly, his hands inside the pockets of his sweatshirt, as if to restrain himself from hitting the other teen. "Please, enlighten us. We were in front of you, too."

"How am I supposed to know why your teams both suck?" Tsubasa taunted. Sano's hands jerked inside the pockets, but the teen didn't seem to notice. "I know that our paths crossed, but the bridge was fine when my team crossed it."

There was short silence. Then Sano spoke again. "I don't remember telling you _anything_ about a bridge. Did you, Kagurazaka?"

"Not that I can recall, Sano." Kagurazaka growled.

"So, how did you know there was something wrong with it?" Sano asked Tsubasa, a triumphant note in his calm voice. "That is, if we didn't mention it…"

Tsubasa's face was momentarily panicked, but he regained his composure quickly. "So clever." He sneered. "But who's going to believe you guys? You all lost; and people know that we've butted heads in the high-jump arena still. You have no proof!"

"We didn't," Mizuki said gleefully, speaking up for the first time since the confrontation. "But we do now!"

Tsubasa glared at her. "Shut up, shitface! All you got is your word against mine!"

"And a recording." Sano took his hands out of his pockets; in one hand he held a cell phone. "Voice recording feature. Sorry, Tsubasa. You cheated so hard and still didn't win."

_Present_

Mizuki was watching the others and the heated water-fight, a small smile on her face. Sano watched her discreetly, pretending to focus on Yujiro who was snoring beside her.

Sano was unsure of how to feel about their mutual knowledge of his discovery of her gender. Of course, their routine hadn't changed much, except Sano now called out a "You decent?" before stepping out of the bathroom in the morning. She still seemed perfectly comfortable living with him.

_Not like she has much of a choice. She might be terribly uncomfortable, but there's no way to change anything. _Sano reasoned. _It's not as if she could request a room change. 'Sorry, my roommate and I aren't the same gender anymore, I need to be switched.'_

He chuckled at the thought; he could almost hear Mizuki saying that.

"You still with us, Sano?"

Mizuki's playful voice brought Sano out of his thoughts. "Yeah. Sorry, I was just thinking…. Just thinking it was time for Yujiro's supper."

At the words _Yujiro's supper_ the dog came awake, yipping excitedly. Mizuki laughed, standing. "Well, now that you've said so, it is! C'mon, boy." She patted her thigh for Yujiro to follow.

Sano stood as well, and fell in step beside her. "We're going back to the dorms," he called to the others, who, engaged in their water fight, barely heard him.  
The walk back to the dorms was a short one from the nearby sports' field Dorm 2 had decided to invade. The air was getting brisk with the oncoming winter, and Mizuki hugged herself. "Even though I'm glad winter is coming, I wish it wouldn't get so cold around here."

"Yeah, you get used to it." Sano shrugged. "Didn't you have winter in California?"

"Not really. Just a season with more rain."

"Sounds boring."

"Kinda. I remember the first time I saw snow. I must have been like five…"

Mizuki started chattering happily, and Sano let her talk for a few moments. Then, as they passed between the narrow alley between the gym building and their dorms, he turned to her.

"-And my brother almost ran over me with his sled, and Dad got so mad-"

"Ashiya, I have to ask you something."

She turned to him, pausing in her step. Yujiro stopped too; he promptly sat down and started scratching his ear with a hind leg. "Yeah?"

"If you want to switch roommates, we'll come up with a story. If this is making you uncomfortable, me knowing, I can-"

Mizuki cut him off, her face gentle. "Sano, I don't want to switch rooms."

"You don't?" Sano looked at her, slightly surprised. "But-"

"You're my friend, and, obviously you're not bothered by me being…" She lowered her voice a little, although the alley was deserted. "A girl, since you've kept quiet about it. So, if you don't mind, I don't mind."

"If you're sure…" Sano said uncertainly.

"I am!" Mizuki said firmly. "I just want to be with you."

A short silence followed her words, and, upon realizing what she said, Mizuki turned bright red. "T-That's not w-what I meant to say-"

Sano silenced her with a wave of his hand. "I know what you meant." He had said it to placate her, even though he wasn't quite sure of what she _had_ meant.

"Kay." She smiled, and then hesitated. "Listen, Sano, I never got to thank you properly for saving me on the cliff that night."

"It wasn't a cliff, though."

"But still," Mizuki persisted. "Without you I wouldn't have gotten over that gap in the trail, whether I would have fallen four feet or forty. So, thank you." Without thinking, she stood on her tip-toes and placed a kiss on Sano's cheek.

"Well," Sano said after another short silence. "You're welcome."

Mizuki was bright red again. "S-Sorry… Wasn't thinking…. In America, it's kind of a thank-you… um, I'll get Yujiro's food."

She hurried away with Yujiro on her heels. Sano watched her leave, a small smile playing on his lips. After a few more moments, he hurried after her.

**The End**

**

* * *

**

Authoress here.

Sorry about the long break between this chapter and the previous one, but I totally lost all inspiration and motivation to write this final chapter. Like I mentioned in the last chapter's notes, I originally planned to have that chapter be the last one.

And sorry there wasn't more kissing, like some of you requested. I felt, that, with them living together it would just become too incredibly awkward. So all I did was a peck on the cheek.

Thank you all for your patience and kind input over the course of this story. It kept me writing.

Also, I will be taking a temporary hiatus from fanfiction, for lack of good ideas. So, I'd like to propose a **CHALLENGE**.

If you, the reader, would like to see me write about a particular subject in a particular anime, manga, or movie (I don't do books, too hard competing with the original author's writing style) give me a challenge in a review or an email (my email's on my page) and a scenario/ plotline, and I'll pick my favorite and write about it. Thanks for your input!

Authoress out.


End file.
